Can we actually achieve fishable swimmable waters?

Day 2: Sept 23, 2013 • 1:15pm • Great Hall

By Bobby Cochran

This session will explore how we can increase the pace, scope, and effectiveness of water quality improvements within a TMDL watershed. The Clean Water Act drives a lot of investment, but we know very little about how well we’re doing in getting to water quality standards. This session will explore current efforts to A) prioritize investment in pollution reduction, B) predict water quality benefits from those projects, C) report on activity, D) track status and trends, and E) use adaptive management to ultimately achieve water quality standards in a watershed.

Bobby Cochran is the Executive Director for the Willamette Partnership, a nonprofit coalition of business, environmental, and other leaders working to enhance the pace, scope, and effectiveness of restoration in the West. The Partnership specializes in the design and operation of emerging markets and payments for ecosystem services. Ultimately, the Partnership works to change the way people view and value nature, insert that information into investment decisions, and use those relationships to shift the networks needed to achieve conservation at scale. Bobby has worked on market-based policies for Defenders of Wildlife and the State of California, Clean Water Services—an Oregon water resources utility, and for the Asian International Rivers Center in Yunnan China. He received a Ph.D./M.A. in Urban Studies/Conflict Resolution from Portland State University, and his Masters in Public Policy from the University of Southern California. He has a B.A. in Biology and Society with a French Studies minor from Cornell University.

• A list of all presentations at the 2013 EENP Forum